When Sauron's Ruling Ring was destroyed in the War of the Ring, the Three Rings of the Elves lost their power of preservation. Afterward, the Dominion of Men became established in Middle-earth, and the time of the Elves there came to its end. In these Fading Years, most of the Elves abandoned Middle-earth to sail across the Great Sea into the West, leaving the mortal lands as the domain of Men.

After this time those Elves who remained in Middle-earth 'faded', though why this occurred is open to question; some sources suggest that it was the natural working out of the Doom of Mandos for the Elves to lose their power in Middle-earth. Whatever the reason, the 'fading' of the Elves was not merely a reference to their waning influence in the world, but also to a literal effect: those few Elves that remained east of the Sea actually faded and became fainter, until they were little more than essences or spirits.